Friday, December 22, 2006

Blog on......Post #1

Dec 22....My Grandfather would say, as he stood poised above the Thanksgiving turkey with a sharp knife, a gleam in his eye, "Well, Christmas is almost at our throats", and with a swift downward thrust began to carve the bird.

A friend recently signed off on an email, "Kill turkey, Kill tree, Merry Christmas".

I'm not thrilled about the season, the maddening traffic, the obsessive / compulsive automaticities of shopping, gift wrapping, gorging on sugar-laden mood modifiers, the commerciality, gifts I don't need, efluvia of paper waste, money wasted, fuel and time wasted. bleahh

I like the simpler paganish versions better. The return of the light, the changing of the seasons, sensitivity to the planet, the bigger picture view of reality.

Maybe I just need to opt out...get off the list...give "Santa" a break.

You've heard about the dyslexic Satan worshipper who sold his soul to Santa?

I think more than just a few people are in the same situation.

Anyway the main reason for this blog is to share useful information regarding Permaculture which you can read about at the website I manage: http://www.permacultureactivist.net

Here's a snip from there:

Permaculture is one of the most holistic, integrated systems analysis and design methodologies found in the world.

Permaculture can be applied to create productive ecosystems from the human- use standpoint or to help degraded ecosystems recover health and wildness.

Permaculture incorporates sustainable agriculture practices and land management techniques and strategies from around the world.

Permaculture is a bridge between traditional cultures and emergent earth-tuned cultures.

Permaculture promotes organic agriculture which does not use pesticides to pollute the environment.

Permaculture aims to maximize symbiotic and synergistic relationships between site components.

Permaculture is urban planning as well as rural land design.

Permaculture design is site specific, client specific, and culture specific.

Those are some characteristics.

A simple definition of Permaculture:"As a system of design, Permaculture provides a new vocabulary and pattern language for observation and action, attention and listening, that empowers people to co-design homes, neighborhoods, and communities full of truly abundant food, energy, habitat, water, income, and yields enough to share." (Me)

And another:Permaculture is a practical concept which can be applied in the city, on the farm, and in the wilderness. Its principles empower people to establish highly productive environments providing for food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs, including economic. Carefully observing natural patterns characteristic of a particular site, the permaculture designer gradually discerns optimal methods for integrating water catchment, human shelter, and energy systems with tree crops, edible and useful perennial plants, domestic and wild animals and aquaculture. Permaculture adopts techniques and principles from ecology, appropriate technology, sustainable agriculture, and the wisdom of indigenous peoples. The ethical basis of permaculture rests upon care of the earth-maintaining a system in which all life can thrive. This includes human access to resources and provisions, but not the accumulation of wealth, power, or land beyond their needs.(From a Bay Area Permaculture brochure).

This is what I do, and there are about at least 200,000 other people on the planet also practicing it in one manner or another. That's a lot of friends....and to quote Bill Mollison, co-originator of the concept, "If you've got a lot of fruit, you've got a lot of friends".

I cultivate a fruitful life and landscape and I'm looking for still more friends to join me in regenerating a culture and planet of fruitful abundance, hence the name of my design company, Patterns for Abundance ( http://www.permacultureactivist.net/design/Designconsult.html ), which I operate with partner Peter Bane, publisher of the Permaculture Activist magazine (which you should subscribe to:http://www.permacultureactivist.net/subscribe/subscrip.htm